new studio, new work

My big project for the past several months has been building and setting up a studio building on my property. OK, well, I didn't build it--a team of Mennonite carpenters did. It's a 16 x 20' wood frame building with heat, air conditioning, and ventilation--and a whole lot bigger than the nun's cell of a room I was working in. In fact it's practically palatial. I moved in the end of October and have been working in it since.

The paintings here were begun in the old space and completed in the new studio. They are part of a larger grouping of paintings that I think of as the Denouement series. They range from 30 x 30, to 18 x 18 (3, not pictured). Vestige and Harborage are oil/oil stick/graphite on panel. The rest are oil/oil stick/graphite on paper on panel.

This group of paintings represent a departure for me. I've spent the past 4 or so years working in encaustic almost exclusively. The summer heat in the nun's cell (no AC) compounded by intense heat from the wax was simply more than I wanted to subject myself to. A mentor suggested that I experiment with brighter colors and use oil stick on paper. That's how this series began, but the journey took it far from its origin. It was a nice break from wax, and a great chance to return to oil. I'm back to wax for now, but I'm already thinking about my next series in oil.


Harborage 2007 oil on panel 30 x 30"


Vestige 2007 oil on panel 30 x 30"


Moral Ground 2007 oil on panel 24 x 24"


Giving Up the Ghost 2007 oil on panel 24 x 24"


Limens 2007 oil on panel 24 x 24"


There There 2007 oil on panel 24 x 24"